


The Pride

by Link_Ryder



Category: The Pride - Fandom
Genre: Death, End of the World, Future Fic, Gen, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 12:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11646975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Link_Ryder/pseuds/Link_Ryder
Summary: The world is on the brink of extinction. In the U.S. everyone is dead except for a select 100, The Pride. When one of the Pride's members, Layla, brings a bleeding man from another country into the town, she began a war. A war the Pride might not win.





	The Pride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [huntersgrace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/huntersgrace/gifts).



2057, the human race is on the brink of extinction. The careless use of the world’s finite resources and the harmful fumes we emit has come back to destroy us. Since 2020, the top climatologists from around the world have been working together to save the planet. Thirty-seven years later on April 4th, 2057, everyone was glued to their holographic televisions for the announcement these scientists had to make. Solemnly with their heads hung in shame, the scientist entered the auditorium led by the chief climatologist, Lance Frost. As they entered the auditorium the anxious and somewhat rowdy crowd was hushed. The scientist walked onto the stage and picked their heads up just enough so that people could see their saddened faces

Frost approached the podium in the middle of the stage and began to speak, “For over thirty years we have tried to figure out a way to save our world, to no avail. We have thought of every possibility, every way to save our planet Earth, but we are too late. The problem is overpopulation, the planet has greatly exceeded the carrying capacity for humans, and because of this, the ozone layer is depleting fast. Only 55% of the layer is left, this is causing severe heat in some places and terrible flooding in others. Soon the entire layer will be gone and so will the human race. There are a few suitable planets in outer space that will be perfect for us, but sadly the space program has not yet figured out a way to get us there. They need more time. Time we do not have. O-our solution is…” tears began to fill Frost’s eyes and his voice started to shake. “...is get rid of most of the human population.” The crowd gasped and began to murmur amongst themselves. 

“He wants a mass genocide.” a woman yelled. 

“Yes, he’s the next Hitler.” a man shouted agreeing with the woman. 

“No, no I beg you, listen. The only option we have is to getting rid of all humans except a select hundred from each country. These hundred would live off the earth with no modern luxuries that can further harm the ozone. While this is happening, there will be a machine repairing the ozone layer. It will be this way for about twenty years with five-year intervals for the machine to recharge. After that, it will be up to the one hundred from all countries to decide how to live. I know this is hard to hear, but this is our only option.” Frost finished. 

In the months that followed, each country reluctantly agreed to the scientists’ plan. The leaders of these countries realized it was their only option, and fruitlessly attempted to explain that to their citizens. There were many revolts, attempts to overthrow the government and prevent the plan from occurring, but these attempts proved futile. It had been agreed among the countries the one hundred people who were chosen could range from ages 12-50 with no serious illnesses. To decide who lives and dies, each country had its own method, but they would all commence on the same day. In the United States, there was a two day battle within each of the fifty states. On the first day, men and boys fought amongst themselves and killed each other in order to be the last one standing in each state. Brother against brother, father against son, rich against poor, even the President fought and died.  On the second day, the women and girls fought. Those who did not fight, or were unable to, were gunned down by a small militia in charge of taking care of the one hundred. 

When the fighting concluded, the militia -known as The Guardians- brought the survivors to a large farming town in southern Texas. When The Guardians were satisfied with the well being of the survivors, they killed themselves. Leaving the survivors only a book on how things are supposed to be run.

 

5 Months Later

 

“Layla wake up, we have a community meeting at sunrise and you don’t want to be late again,” Lucy warned. Slowly, Layla blinked her eyes open and picked herself up from her bed. Gideon, the leader of the survivors, held a community meeting on the first of every month-by his calculations. As Layla lethargically followed Lucy out the door, she thought back to when they first arrived at the farm. Everyone was scared, confused, but Gideon was the only one who seemed to know what he was doing. He provided the survivors with hope and because of this became their leader. 

Layla sat down at her designated table with everyone else and stared at the short, stocky man, with an unkempt beard to match his scruffy, salt and pepper hair, in front of her. The many quiet conversations turned into a loud mix of jumbled words as more of the survivors sat down at their designated tables. The talking was soon silenced as the sun rose and the short and stocky Gideon walked onto the stage. Although he was only about 5’ 2” or 5’ 3”, Gideon’s presence commanded everyone’s attention without him even uttering a word. 

Gideon looked out at the crowd and smiled. “Goodmorning my Pride,” he began.

“Goodmorning Gideon.”  the survivors, known as the Pride, responded in unison.

“As you know, we are the Pride because that is the collective name for a group of lions. Just like lions, we are strong and courageous on our own, but even more so when we stick together. Unity is essential to our new world. We all rely on each other for survival, and need to be unified for that to work.” Layla knew why Gideon was emphasizing the Pride’s need to be unified. A few days prior, one of the Pride’s members, Samuel DeGeorges, -who had been upset with Gideon’s rule since the day he took control- attempted to stir up a revolt. Somehow Gideon found out about Samuel’s plan and confronted him. According to the rumors, Samuel then attempted to kill Gideon and is now in an abandoned house where he is guarded 24/7.

The rest of Gideon’s speech was boring and Lyla, being a teenager, lost interest. Instead, she began day dreaming and was only aware that Gideon had dismissed them by Lucy’s tap on the shoulder. “Do you want breakfast?” Lucy asked.

“No thanks, I’m not that hungry,” Layla responded.

“OK, then get to work. I’ll see you at lunch.” Lucy ordered with a smile. From the first of living with the Pride, Lucy had been a mother to Layla. Layla’s real mother kept Layla alive throughout the fight of Day 2 and then killed herself leaving Layla to be the survivor. Lucy lost her daughter some years before the fighting to a congenital disease, she was around Layla’s age when she died. Lucy saw a lot of her daughter in Layla and happily took Layla as her own.

Layla was halfway to the shed, where she milked cows and collected chicken eggs when she saw what looked like a man in the distance. Curiously, she ran towards him. When she reached him, he fell to his knees. “Please, please, help me,” he begged. The man had a strong Mexican accent and bled from many wounds. Layla pitied the man. She helped him to his feet and together they walked toward the shed. In the shed, Layla took a towel that was used to dry the cows and held it down on one of the man’s largest wounds. Eventually, the bleeding from that wound stopped, and Layla moved on to address the others. When she was finished with the final one, she ran to the well, picked up a bucket of water, and walked back to the shed. 

“Who are you? Where are you from and what are you doing here?” Layla interrogated while attempting to clean the man’s wounds with water. 

After scooping water out of the bucket and drinking it from his hands, the man answered. “My name is Ernesto. I am from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. I was an English teacher there. Unlike here in the United States, Mexico was not quick to decide on the one hundred survivors. Instead, it was an all out brawl. People began to form gangs attacking each other to make sure that their gang was part of the one hundred. I was attacked by one of those gangs and managed to escape,” Ernesto looked down at his wedding ring covered in blood.  “but my wife, Angella, was not so lucky. The gang killed her right in front of me. Please, do not let them take me.” 

“I’m sorry, but I have to take you to the leader of our group. It’s his decision whether or not to give you back to the gang that was trying to kill you. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try my best to convince him to let you stay.” said Layla. She helped Ernesto to his feet, and they both slowly walked through the town to a large building with the sign “Town Hall.” As they walked through the town, people stopped their jobs and stared puzzled at the pair. Layla didn’t allow the attention to bother her, she kept her head high and focused on her destination. 

The pair entered the Town Hall and knocked on Gideon’s door. Noises that resembled those of a scuffle came from inside of the office for a few seconds. Then Gideon’s second in command, Brett, opened the door. When Layla and Ernesto entered Gideon’s office, Brett left. Layla and Ernesto sat down, but Gideon stood staring at Ernesto as Layla explained the prior events. After Layla finished her explanation, she looked at Gideon and asked, “So what are you going to do with him?” There was a long pause. Gideon stared at Ernesto with his arms crossed, thinking. 

“Well, I think we sho-” Gideon began, but was interrupted. Brett barged into the room. “What is it, Brett?”

“Gid, I mean Gideon, there are some people outside that want to see you,” Brett said, there was a sense of urgency and fear in his voice. 

Gideon, Layla, and Ernesto followed Brett out of the Town Hall to where four men armed with machetes and pistols were waiting. A crowd had formed around them, everyone was eager to find out what was going on. The men weren’t bothered by the crowd. They seemed to enjoy the attention. “I believe you have something of ours.” one of the men said pointing at Ernesto.

“What if I don't want to give him to you?” Gideon questioned.

“Then prepare for war. I’ll give you until the sun is at its highest in the sky, or as you say, noon, to discuss this with your group. I trust you’ll make the right decision.” the man replied and then left with his gang.

After the gang was out of sight, Gideon called an emergency community meeting. At this meeting, he explained who Ernesto was and retold Layla’s story. Gideon asked the Pride to vote on whether they want to send Ernesto away to his death or to fight to save his life. The Pride unanimously voted to fight. This made Ernesto cry tears of joy. 

At noon the gang returned and Gideon informed them of the Pride’s decision. “Ustedes están muertos.” a gang member scoffed and they walked away. 

After they were gone, Gideon looked at the members of the Pride and exclaimed: “Let’s get ready to fight!” He then went to the armory, where the guns and other weapons The Guardians left behind were stored. Gideon distributed weapons to all the members of The Pride including Ernesto. Everyone was then given a job to help prepare the town for battle. 

Later that night, one of the barns caught on fire. The few who rushed to put out the blaze were shot and killed. Then from all corners of the town, the gang members began to emerge. “There are more of them than I thought,” said Gideon looking out the window of the Town Hall. “It’s too late to back down now. Let’s go,” he exclaimed. With a loud roar, he ran out of the Town Hall and began shooting at the invaders. Layla ran out behind him, but with a different agenda. She ran toward the shed with Ernesto and Lucy to hide and wait out the battle.

The fighting went on for what seemed like days but were just a few hours. The shed door opened, and a figure stood in the doorway. “It’s me guys. The fighting is over, I think we won,” said Gideon. The group in the shed followed Gideon as he began leading them across the town, but their trip was cut short when they came face to face with the leader of the gang and his ally. Both sides aimed their guns at the enemy. “You’re outnumbered, four of us and two of you.” Gideon smiled. 

“Or am I?” laughed the gang leader. Suddenly there was a gunshot. Instinctively, Gideon shot the guys in front of him -the gang leader and his ally- assuming they were the ones who fired the shot. But when he looked to his left, he saw Ernesto standing over Lucy’s lifeless body. Gideon aimed his gun at Ernesto, but before he could pull the trigger, Ernesto shot him in the arm. Layla was in shock, staring at Lucy’s body and could not move. When Ernesto shot Gideon, the noise snapped her out of the trance. She aimed her gun at Ernesto, closed her eyes, and shot Ernesto in the stomach. He cried out in agony and fell to the floor with a loud thump. Layla frightened by what she had just done, ran into the arms of Gideon. The fight was over, for now.


End file.
